^13:46Both Paul and Barnabas replied courageously,¹⁷¹ “It was necessary to speak the word of God¹⁷² to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy¹⁷³ of eternal life, we¹⁷⁴ are turning to the Gentiles.¹⁷⁵^13:47For this¹⁷⁶ is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have appointed¹⁷⁷ you to be a light¹⁷⁸ for the Gentiles, to bring salvation¹⁷⁹ to the ends of the earth.’ ”¹⁸⁰^13:48When the Gentiles heard this, they began to rejoice¹⁸¹ and praise¹⁸² the word of the Lord, and all who had been appointed for eternal life¹⁸³ believed.

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Footnotes

171 Grk “Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out courageously and said.” The redundancy is removed in the translation and the verb “replied” is used in keeping with the logical sequence of events. The theme of boldness reappears: Acts 4:24–30; 9:27–28.
172 Grk “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken.” For smoothness and simplicity of English style, the passive construction has been converted to active voice in the translation.
173 Or “and consider yourselves unworthy.”
174 Grk “behold, we.” In this context ἰδού (idou) is not easily translated into English.
175 This turning to the Gentiles would be a shocking rebuke to 1st century Jews who thought they alone were the recipients of the promise.
176 Here οὕτως (houtōs) is taken to refer to what follows, the content of the quotation, as given for this verse by οὕτω/οὕτως 2.
177 τίθημι 3.a has “τιθέναι τινὰ εἴς τι place/appoint someone to or for (to function as) someth.… Ac 13:47.” This is a double accusative construction of object (“you”) and complement (“a light”).
178 Paul alludes here to the language of the Servant in Isaiah, pointing to Isa 42:6; 49:6. He and Barnabas do the work of the Servant in Isaiah.
179 Grk “that you should be for salvation,” but more simply “to bring salvation.”
180 An allusion to Isa 42:6 and 49:6. The expression the ends of the earth recalls Luke 3:6 and Acts 1:8. Paul sees himself and Barnabas as carrying out the commission of Luke 24:27. (See 2 Cor 6:2, where servant imagery also appears concerning Paul’s message.)
181 The imperfect verb ἔχαιρον (echairon) and the following ἐδόξαζον (edoxazon) are translated as ingressive imperfects.
182 Or “glorify.” Although “honor” is given by δοξάζω as a translation, it would be misleading here, because the meaning is “to honor in the sense of attributing worth to something,” while in contemporary English usage one speaks of “honoring” a contract in the sense of keeping its stipulations. It is not a synonym for “obey” in this context (“obey the word of the Lord”), but that is how many English readers would understand it.
183 Note the contrast to v. 46 in regard to eternal life.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,

“ ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles,

that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. For this is what the Lord has commanded us:

“ ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles,

that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”

When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Paul and Barnabas boldly replied, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first. Since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we are turning to the Gentiles. For this is what the Lord has commanded us:

I have made you

a light for the Gentiles

to bring salvation

to the ends of the earth.”

When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and honored the word of the Lord, and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed.

NLTNew Living Translation

Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and declared, “It was necessary that we first preach the word of God to you Jews. But since you have rejected it and judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we will offer it to the Gentiles. For the Lord gave us this command when he said,

‘I have made you a light to the Gentiles,

to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth.’”

When the Gentiles heard this, they were very glad and thanked the Lord for his message; and all who were chosen for eternal life became believers.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Both Paul and Barnabas spoke boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you, since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life! Behold, we are turning to the Gentiles! For so the Lord has commanded us:

‘I have appointed you to be a light for the Gentiles,

that you would bring salvation to the end of the earth.’

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began to rejoice and to glorify the word of the Lord. And all those who were designated for eternal life believed.

KJV 1900King James Version

Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.

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